Swash plate engines and pumps have been devised in the past in which pistons are disposed in cylinders placed parallel to the axis of the shaft of the engine but at a distance therefrom, the pistons driving the swash plate mechanism to rotate the shaft. This construction has the disadvantage of a multiplicity of parts so that the engine has few if any advantages over an ordinary crankshaft engine.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a swash plate machine which will obviate or minimise the foregoing disadvantages in a simple yet effective manner or which will at least provide the public with a useful choice.